Hamas has appointed its Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar as the political chief at-large to succeed Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in a suspected Israeli attack in Tehran last week.
The announcement by the Palestinian group came on Tuesday as tensions skyrocket across the Middle East, with Iran promising revenge against Israel for Haniyeh’s killing on its soil.
Israel has not confirmed or denied its involvement in the July 31 attack.
Seen as the architect of the October 7 attack against Israel, Sinwar will now try to push the movement through uncertain times across the region from an unknown location in Gaza.
The Gaza-based Palestinian leader is public enemy number one in Israel. So, by choosing him as the head of its political bureau, Hamas is sending a message of defiance to the Israeli government.
But it remains unclear how Sinwar will be able to communicate with fellow Hamas operatives, run the day-to-day political operations of the movement, and oversee Gaza ceasefire negotiations while in hiding.
Israeli officials have made no secret of their desire to kill him.
Source: Al Jazeera
Israel’s ‘most wanted man’ Yahya Sinwar is Hamas’s new leader
Hamas says it has chosen Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza, as the new leader of its political bureau after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Here’s what you need to know about him.
Source: Al Jazeera